Sheryl Crow Discography

(1993)

While this is an uneven debut album, it defined Sheryl Crow's early sound. Spawned the monster hit "All I Wanna Do". Other gems include the bluesy "Strong Enough", the angsty "No One Said it Would Be Easy" and "Leaving Las Vegas". The rest of the album is feels like filler, despite some interesting songwriting.

(1996)

This is the album that defines Sheryl Crow. The song writing covers some of her favourite themes - stories of the road, stories about everyday people (her friends maybe?), stories about old loves, stories of love & disappointment and of course, a political rant or two. Sheryl Crow comes across as a gifted story-teller. The music is all over the place, but mostly grounded in roots rock with flourishes from several genres.

(1998)

My favourite Sheryl Crow album, and the final album in her trilogy of 1990s albums. It was her most polished album till that point and her most focused thematically. She mostly deals with love and heartbreak, mostly heartbreak, with an occasional detour or two. This has some of her most recognisable songs - 'My Favorite Mistake' and 'There Goes the Neighborhood' among them. Another, rather unexpected, highlight is the Bob Dylan penned 'Mississippi'.

(1999)

While Sheryl Crow is great in concert (I can testify, having seen her thrice so far), this album is a poor reflection of that. Littered with guest appearances, the whole concert sounds scattered and uninspired.

(2002)

This album signifies the start of the next phase of Sheryl Crow's career. She leaves behind some of the angst of her first three albums and is generally in a more happy mood. While on her earlier albums, the happier moments were tinged with an undercurrent of sadness, her the sadder moments are tinged with an undercurrent of hopefulness. She is now a classic performer, with the ability to pull out great songs seemingly at will.

(2003)

(2003)

I'm not sure why Sheryl Crow released a "Very Best of" album at this point in her career. The music is great but looking back, it feels rather incomplete. A good place to start for the first time listener, as it delivers one hit after another. I still prefer the music in their original settings, it's just more meaningful to me that way.

(2005)

This album is the spiritual twin of Globe Sessions thematically, without the weariness that accompanies that album. It also lacks some of the sharper edges, which make it a slightly less interesting listen.

(2008)

A bizarre mix of sounds and themes, this album is my least favourite Sheryl Crow album since her debut. There's some really great songs in there but the whole album feels scattered - a collection of songs rather than an album. While a similar problem plagued 'Sheryl Crow', that was a much fresher album.

(2010)

Sheryl Crow has always been good at adding flourishes from different genres to her roots rock sound and she's chosen to be more overt about her influences here. Soul, funk, reggae - it's all here. She sounds like she's having fun on this album, and so do her listeners.